I've never understood the moon landing deniers. During the moon landing, the astronauts were sending back a continuous stream of radio signals. Signals that everyone everywhere could pick up. A Russian astronomer in Leningrad and another in Moscow could easily calculate where the signals were coming from and could exactly map the entire trip based solely on those signals.

If the US never went to the moon landing, why didn't the Soviets call bullshiat at the time?

meanmutton:I've never understood the moon landing deniers. During the moon landing, the astronauts were sending back a continuous stream of radio signals. Signals that everyone everywhere could pick up. A Russian astronomer in Leningrad and another in Moscow could easily calculate where the signals were coming from and could exactly map the entire trip based solely on those signals.

If the US never went to the moon landing, why didn't the Soviets call bullshiat at the time?

unlikely:I was born in November 1968, just before the Apollo 8 left to do the first manned orbit of the moon. Every time a human has visited the moon has been within my lifetime.

My girlfriend was born in April, 1973, a couple of months after the Apollo 17 returned. We have not had a human visit the moon in her lifetime.

There's nothing on the Moon that's really worth visiting. If there was, we would have stayed. The only place that there's water ice is at the bottom of craters where you can't use solar power to access it, lunar dust gets in everything and fouls up all of your machinery, and the temperature swings are brutal.

There's no reason to land on the moon again. Mars at least has the novelty factor.

Bleyo:meanmutton: I've never understood the moon landing deniers. During the moon landing, the astronauts were sending back a continuous stream of radio signals. Signals that everyone everywhere could pick up. A Russian astronomer in Leningrad and another in Moscow could easily calculate where the signals were coming from and could exactly map the entire trip based solely on those signals.

If the US never went to the moon landing, why didn't the Soviets call bullshiat at the time?

Jubeebee:unlikely: I was born in November 1968, just before the Apollo 8 left to do the first manned orbit of the moon. Every time a human has visited the moon has been within my lifetime.

My girlfriend was born in April, 1973, a couple of months after the Apollo 17 returned. We have not had a human visit the moon in her lifetime.

There's nothing on the Moon that's really worth visiting. If there was, we would have stayed. The only place that there's water ice is at the bottom of craters where you can't use solar power to access it, lunar dust gets in everything and fouls up all of your machinery, and the temperature swings are brutal.

There's no reason to land on the moon again. Mars at least has the novelty factor.

We'd go back to the moon because it provides a handy place to build things without the trouble of trying to escape Earth's gravity well. We could also do crazy things like take the water ice someplace other than the bottom of a crater to do things with it.

qorkfiend:Jubeebee: unlikely: I was born in November 1968, just before the Apollo 8 left to do the first manned orbit of the moon. Every time a human has visited the moon has been within my lifetime.

My girlfriend was born in April, 1973, a couple of months after the Apollo 17 returned. We have not had a human visit the moon in her lifetime.

There's nothing on the Moon that's really worth visiting. If there was, we would have stayed. The only place that there's water ice is at the bottom of craters where you can't use solar power to access it, lunar dust gets in everything and fouls up all of your machinery, and the temperature swings are brutal.

There's no reason to land on the moon again. Mars at least has the novelty factor.

We'd go back to the moon because it provides a handy place to build things without the trouble of trying to escape Earth's gravity well. We could also do crazy things like take the water ice someplace other than the bottom of a crater to do things with it.

Except that you'd have to get everything TO the moon to do the mining, refining, and manufacturing. Plus, we'd have to find all the sources of oxygen and whatever we're trying to build -- where are we going to find that?

meanmutton:qorkfiend: Jubeebee: unlikely: I was born in November 1968, just before the Apollo 8 left to do the first manned orbit of the moon. Every time a human has visited the moon has been within my lifetime.

My girlfriend was born in April, 1973, a couple of months after the Apollo 17 returned. We have not had a human visit the moon in her lifetime.

There's nothing on the Moon that's really worth visiting. If there was, we would have stayed. The only place that there's water ice is at the bottom of craters where you can't use solar power to access it, lunar dust gets in everything and fouls up all of your machinery, and the temperature swings are brutal.

There's no reason to land on the moon again. Mars at least has the novelty factor.

We'd go back to the moon because it provides a handy place to build things without the trouble of trying to escape Earth's gravity well. We could also do crazy things like take the water ice someplace other than the bottom of a crater to do things with it.

Except that you'd have to get everything TO the moon to do the mining, refining, and manufacturing. Plus, we'd have to find all the sources of oxygen and whatever we're trying to build -- where are we going to find that?

In addition, the lunar surface is a terrible place to build anything. Lunar dust is just tons of microscopic, razor sharp particles that'll foul up everything you do. You'd be better off assembling things in earth orbit; save the deceleration fuel, work in a clean environment, and have all the solar power you need.

The moon sucks. It's an energy hole. There isn't anything you can do on the moon that you can't do faster, cheaper, and easier someplace else.

robohobo:Jubeebee:In addition, the lunar surface is a terrible place to build anything. Lunar dust is just tons of microscopic, razor sharp particles

Like cut your hands if you shoved them in bucket full of the stuff sharp? Or like when sand gets magnified sharp?

Somewhere between. More like if you take a bucket of rocks, hit each one with a hammer only once, and then fill a bucket with that. That kind of sharp. Sand, here, is rounded and smoothed by wind and water action, so it's really not that sharp.

Mr Guy:EvilEgg: Those blotches prove nothing, they look virtually indistinguishable from the other splotches. Am I supposed to take some needle-dicked scientist's word for what they are?

They should have provided a short animated GIF, since it's the sundial effect that demonstrates the flags are actually still there.

I thought I had read the ascent exhaust knocked the (or one of) the flag(s) down? If so was it re erected via a later missions or as later missions were in disparate locations did later missions each plant their own U.S. flag?

After decades in direct sunlight the flags are probably white, though since the shadows suggest they are physically intact, the stars and stripes are still there in the sewing pattern (they are machine-sewn flags, not screen-printed).